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javaswinglistenerjpanelborder-layout

Events on a JPanel which has a Border Layout


When I add a MouseListener/FocusListener to a JPanel which has a BorderLayout and JComponents in it, I can't catch mouse or focus events. Is there any way to catch a JPanel's mouse and focus events which has a BorderLayout?

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Application extends JFrame{

    public Application(){
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

        JPanel jPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        jPanel.add(new JButton("Button"));

        jPanel.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
                System.out.println("mouseExited");
            }
        });

//        if border is set then listener works if not does not
//        jPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.black, 1));
        setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        add(jPanel);
        setSize(400, 400);
        setVisible(true);
    }

    public static void main(String[]args){
        new Application().setVisible(true);
    }

}

Solution

  • As said, just a simple mistake. Because JFrame is given a FlowLayout, the JPanel occupies the area required for JButton only. You can test that by adding a Border to the JPanel.

    Now it works,

    import java.awt.*;
    import java.awt.event.*;
    import javax.swing.*;
    
    public class Application extends JFrame {
    
        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
    
        public Application() {
            JPanel jPanel = new JPanel();
            jPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
            jPanel.add(new JButton("Button"));
            jPanel.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
                @Override
                public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) {
                    System.out.println("mouseExited");
                }
            });
            setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
            setLayout(new BorderLayout());
            add(jPanel);
            setSize(400, 400);
            setVisible(true);
        }
    
        public static void main(String[] args) {
            SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
    
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    new Application().setVisible(true);
                }
            });
        }
    }